Happy chickens lay delicious eggs

This is what eggs from happy chickens look like


So beautiful! Look at that gorgeous golden yoke! And trust me you can taste the difference! You've never tasted a better egg!
Since switching from vegan to omnivore, I've been on a mission to find fresh free grazing farm raised happy chickens who lay marvelous eggs which I can purchase locally. In the city that is a steep order. But lucky for me a local suburban farm has opened up a farm stand like store that carries fresh local veggies, spices, cider, and yes... Eggs from happy chickens!
I always made a point to say I was not vegan due to the moral dilemma of eating animals rather making the choice for my health. But the one thing I always felt guilty eating, whether i was in a vegetarian or meat eating phase, was eggs. Commercial eggs, even the ones labeled "free range" are from chickens who are raised in horrific conditions.
Needless to say these eggs that I found are local, fresh and from very happy chickens. And they are my new favorite food. I like to eat them over easy with wilted spinach and roasted carrots and parsnips. So yummy!!!

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New year approaching....

As Christmas comes to a close and we all have to go back to work its inevitable that we think about the new year that is approaching and reflect back on the year past. It was a roller coaster year full of high highs and low lows, too many deaths in the family and then a wedding. I'll be happy to get off the ride on jan first and hopefully start a new beginning.
I've never been one to make new years resolutions, I have always felt that if your going to make a change you should start right away not wait until a new year and some many people give up after the first month and then forget about it for the rest of the year. But this year I'm already in the process of change and I'd like to continue that. So my resolution is simply to continue on my path of change and alternative healing exploration and to make more of a concerted effort to document this journey. With this change in my life things will be changing here on the blog. I am still focused on eating a plant based diet but with that plant base, there will also be small portions of lean proteins. And on top of that I'll be attempting a gluten free lifestyle. Things you won't see a lot of anymore are beans and grains, and I'm going to continue to exclude milk and cheeses. But eggs and butter are welcomed back with open arms! This is the basis for the paleo diet. I'm not doing it to lose weight, It has been recommended to me because it is a diet that doesn't create any or at least very little, auto immune response. So far I've found that when I follow this diet well I feel full longer, I feel satisfied and I'm less likely to cheat on sweets and treats. And I have a lot of energy! If you want more information the book I'm reading on the paleo diet is called "the paleo solution" by Robb Wolf.
So with that I am sorry to all of my vegan followers. Not that it makes it better but I am only buying farm fresh eggs from happy chickens (I actually get them from a farm) and I'm only buying free range meat and sustainably raised and/or caught fish.
On top of all these diet changes I have begun a regime of acupuncture and chiropractic care to help with my lupus, which has really had amazing results. And I'll continue to look for more alternative options to add to mix. I'm willing to try just about anything that could show some results.
Thank you for your continued support, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!



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Joy!

The fifties house wife inside me is jumping for joy right now, after receiving an early wedding present of brand new bakeware (including a cupcake carrying container!!!!!!) and this book to add to my cookbook collection!


I don't think there are a lot of veggie meals in here but I know there will be a lot of inspiration! I'm so excited!!! Big thanks for this gift go to our good friends R&B! You guys are the best!

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Kale bean salad

With all the wedding planning chaos I have slacked big time in my blogging and I feel horrible about that. Especially since these are the best veggie months of the year! I know I won't be fully back until after the honeymoon but for now here is the recipe for the best salad I've made in a long time. It's a variation of my go to bean salad recipe that I make for everything, but I'll share that one another day.
For this salad you'll need 1 can of black beans, 1 tomato, 1 avocado, a few stems of kale, olive oil and red wine vinegar.
Rinse the black beans, cut up the tomato and avocado and then chop the kale up into little pieces. Mix all this in a bowl with olive oil and red wine vinegar to taste and add on a dash of salt. You can eat it with a fork or scoop with chips. I look for any excuse I can find to eat tortilla chips so this makes a good one! Also if you make it ahead of time or if you have leftovers (which you won't because it's so delicious you can't stop eating it) it will probably taste better the next day!





Doesn't that look yummy!
Enjoy!
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Tranquility is...

I just spent a glorious 4 full days in Maine so far north that I could see Russia Canada ! It was heaven! We took walks on the beach in the morning, exploring what had washed ashore, playing with the waves and finding little treasures.

There was also a lot of relaxing, reading and napping followed by lots of wonderful food, fabulous friends and of course s'mores!
This was my favorite kind of vacation, the sleepy, sit around relaxing, do nothing kind of vacation! Thanks go to our wonderful hosts, R and B, for the fabulous escape and always joyous company!


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Finally, fresh healthy fast food

As I started my 2 hour and thirty minute car ride to Kripalu this afternoon, I realized I was hungry, but I was too excited to pause and eat lunch before I left, so 20 mins into my drive I found myself pondering what to eat on the road. 40 mins later, after finally making the decision to stop and get something to eat, lest I gnaw my arm off, I found myself at a rest stop in my car scanning my handy new veganxpress iPhone app trying to find something I might be able to eat. After giving up on the app and hoping I'd get lucky inside I ventured forth from the car and joyously came across this sign


It's hard to see in the bottom left hand corner but the sign for fresh express was like a beaming light from heaven. I knew I could eat something delicious there. And I did, five mins later I was back in my car with a glorious burrito grande no queso and a sweet leaf green tea. I was on my way to Kripalu once again, but more on that later....
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June means strawberry picking!

Last week I had the pleasure of taking two little munchkins strawberry picking for the first time. One was a very good picker, the other was a very good eater. Can you tell which is which?


I managed to pick 3 quarts of strawberries, enough for each of us to take a quart home. As much as I love fresh strawberries these were so ripe I couldn't eat them fast enough so I picked up some fresh rhubarb from the farmers market and decided to make a strawberry rhubarb crisp. I found a great recipe from Vegetarian Times
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and oil or butter (earth balance) a 9 inch pie pan.


1/2 lbs strawberries
1/2 lbs rhubarb
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I only had brown sugar so I used 1/4 cup plus some agave)
1 1/2 Tbs cornstarch
Juice and zest of 1 orange
Mix well and then spoon into you pie plate.


4 Tbs cold butter (earth balance)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup flour
Mix and then put on top of the fruit mixture and bake for 40 mins at 350 degrees.


Then enjoy!! I made a few changes when I made it that turned out well, I used 1 cup of oatmeal because I thought 1/2 a cup just didn't look like enough. And I used whole wheat flour for nutritional purposes. This was truly delicious, the crumbly top tasted like the most amazing oatmeal cookie and the fruits were perfectly sweetened. The only thing I would change if I made it again would be to cut down on the orange juice and zest. The finished product was very orangey and it drown out the strawberry flavor a bit.
Using earth balance instead of butter easily makes this vegan and if you have gluten free oats and any form of gluten free flour mixture it's easily gluten free as well!
Enjoy!!
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